1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to systems and methods for providing a play station where physical, non-simulated objects can interact with a play environment including both visual and other sensory output without the need for the objects to be capable of digital communication.
2. Description of Related Art.
As the world has become more advanced, virtually every aspect of human existence has incorporated new technologies. In many respects, toys, generally objects used for play to train children for future life and often designed to be versions of objects used by adults, have been around for much of recorded human history. Because toys are often designed to teach intended behavior, toys have changed as the world has changed to allow for children to play with the type of objects they will experience as they grow older.
Prior to the invention of the telephone, there was no need for toy telephones. Similarly, prior to the invention of the automobile, there were no toy cars or trucks. While the types of toys emulate the environment and era in which children are growing up, toys also have gained increased functionality as the technology of the era has provided for better and safer ways to incorporate functionalities using devices that are often sophisticated machines more so than playthings.
As an example, an early toy telephone may have looked like a telephone, but it generally did not operate like a real telephone. However, as technology has improved, toy telephones have become more like the real thing. From mechanical bells and sounds, to recordings of parts of conversations, to modern toys that incorporate moveable buttons which control computer chips so that the telephone can be manipulated like a real telephone, toys have become increasingly “real”.
One recent advancement in toys is the ability to operate in interactive environments, specifically digital environments such as the Internet or computer simulated worlds. For example, a physical toy may interact with a computer game where the toy is represented by an avatar, or may provide for the user to manipulate the toy and have that interaction be translated to an on-screen action. Such a toy's digital interaction is through computer components in the toy and a connection to a computer or other general interactive display device, such as a television. For example, a plush toy may “speak” when it receives a signal from an interactive device, such as a computer or television, when the user does something in an environment presented on the screen. The sounds issued will usually be connected to the activity on the display screen and therefore the toy can appear to interact with what is occurring on the screen.
These interactions are, however, limited in several very important ways. In the first instance, the interactions have traditionally required both the digital machine providing the environment, and the toy, to be digital devices. That is, they both have to have mutual communication protocols and electronic hardware within them. This can be expensive as, effectively, interactive toys must include a sophisticated machine to allow the toy to appear to interact. Further, such interaction can be power demanding, and changing batteries in a toy can be difficult or constantly changing batteries can be annoying. Still further, the inclusion of such devices can ruin the appearance or feel of toy (e.g., a soft plush toy is no longer soft, but now includes a hard chunk of electronics and batteries within it).
A second major limitation to such digitally interactive toys is that the environment is generally not an interactive play environment. Instead, the environment is a screen simulation of an interactive world. Thus, children are not playing within the environment (e.g., as they would with a toy kitchen) but are directing interaction in a simulated environment (e.g., manipulating an image of a kitchen on the screen). This is a less “natural” interaction and, as parents have become increasingly concerned with their children's screen time and the amount of time they spend with virtual play, the desire to provide children with immersive simulated environments, which only exist online or in a computer or television, have decreased. Instead, parents want more “hands-on” toys where a child is manipulating the toy directly, instead of via a computer interface device.
Because of the increase in available computing power, the ability to utilize digital control in all types of devices has become more common. However, while digital devices are commonly incorporated as control panels or as internal components, the control panel has not become a part of an interactive device in a fashion where the control aspect is designed to be camouflaged and still can interact with non-digital devices. That is, devices have not been provided where the digital aspect is somewhat hidden, where the digital aspect is combined to provide sensory stimulation as part of a larger more immersive play environment, and where non-digital toys can interact with the play environment.
This broader type of environment can allow for play with non-digital toys to be digitally interactive which provides for a much broader universe of toys to be used in the environment, and further provides that the cost of each toy is reduced because the inclusion of digital components to provide the interaction is not necessary. In addition, the play environment not being totally simulated can be desirable to provide for better development (e.g., of gross motor skills). Effectively, the computer system in the play station goes from simulating an environment, to being a control system or partial simulation within a real environment. This can be a much more immersive and realistic play experience.
In the last 15 years, the manufacturing process for toys also has become personalized through the advent of toy stores where the toy is not just purchased off of a rack, but is, at least partially, manufactured by the child. One such type of store is the Build-a-Bear Workshop® store where a person can construct a toy from a variety of components. Part of the entertainment value of the toy is the ability of the child to be a part of the toy's development. In these types of on-demand and self-service opportunities, the child is present for the toy's creation and construction, and the toy is often more personalized because the child has made personal decisions about the design of the toy. This can include decisions as to the toy's appearance and what additional components or functionality will be included.
In effect, the toy becomes more capable of reflecting the toy's owner because its owner is also, in many respects, its creator and builder. This is beneficial both for children who are making customized toys and for toys which are given to the child. The latter results in the toy often having a more personal connection as it is associated by the child with the person who made and gave the toy to the child because of the personalization. Further, the very process of building a toy is “play” which emulates modern manufacturing and construction techniques and can provide entertainment and learning as well. Further, toy stores are also increasingly becoming play destinations where the toy is viewed as a “friend” or “companion” allowed to take part in the child's activities instead of an inanimate object.
Personalization and anthropomorphism of toys by children as part of their play is not new. The “reality” of toys as things other than inanimate objects has been fertile ground for children's literature and entertainment for many years and virtually every child, at some time, sees a toy as more than just an object. It has long been recognized that children have a more difficult time separating fantasy from reality than adults and, therefore, such anthropomorphism is easily understood. Further, anthropomorphism of toys can allow a parent to use a child's imagination to assist in dealing with problems created by a child's imagination. Child rearing books are filled with examples of using a child's plush toy, in a child's imagination, as a powerful hero that can defend the child from a child's imagined “monsters under the bed.”
Particularly when it comes to plush toys, the desire of children to anthropomorphize the toy can be strong. Such toys are very often comfort objects for children and are often used to calm and reassure children. A teddy bear going through an X-ray scanner prior to a child is a common image. Thus, there is often a natural push that plush toys are seen by children as real “people”. This particular anthropomorphism, and the specificity with which it is associated with a particular plush toy, leads to a need for a play station where the particular plush toy, regardless of its construction, is able to interact with the play environment.
Thus, while many sophisticated plush toys include computer chips as part of their construction to allow interaction with other digital devices, it is often not desirable that the play environment requires a toy to be a digital device in order to interact. Instead, having a digital play area that can interact with non-digital devices, and, thus, has a much wider interactive ability, can be desirable. Further, having the play environment be hands-on, engage multiple senses, and provide for motor movement can be desirable.